Ask John: What are the Best Anime Comedies of the Past 20 Years?

Question:
What are the top anime comedies of the past decade or two? When I ask this, I’m not just asking your opinion; I’m asking what comedies have the highest buzz and positive criticism. I have to guess that Excel Saga is one of them, and I have been watching the Cromartie High School anime, which is in the same subgenre of “dumb” comedy.

Answer:
I define comedy as humor generated by the surprise of the unexpected. Something is funny because it’s amusing and unexpected. It’s hard to be honestly humored by something routine or expected. That’s why I believe that most of the best comedies that the world of anime has to offer come from relatively recent productions. It’s only relatively recently that anime has matured and established itself enough to be able to depict truly outrageous, totally unexpected and unpredictable situations. The following is my short list of comedy highlights from the past twenty years. I’ve attempted to make this list objective, but unavoidably it will be influenced by my own tastes in comedy. And for the sake of convenience, I’ve limited the candidates to only straightforward comedies. I’ve excluded romantic comedies such as Love Hina, Iketeru Futari, and Kareshi Kanojo no Jijoo. I’ve also excluded ironic comedies like Mind Game, Tokyo Godfathers, and Twilight Q Part 2 which are closer to satire or dramatic comedy than absurd, outrageous comedy. And finally my list is limited by my own experience. I can’t claim to have watched every comic anime released in the past twenty years.

The original 1986 Project A-ko movie is a masterpiece of frantic, crazy, situational comedy and parody. It definitely deserves recognition as a forbearer of the later, stylistically similar sci-fi adventure comedy FLCL.

Although not particularly successful in Japan, the two episode Dragon Half OVA series from 1993 has become a perennial favorite among American fans because of its cute absurdity.

Although it looses steam in its second half, the shock value of the early episodes of the 1995 Ike! Inachuu Takkyuubu (“Ping Pong Club”) anime series are enough to guarantee the series a permanent place in the annals of history’s most shocking, disgusting, and outrageous anime humor.

The 1996 Kodomo no Omocha television series may be the second most successful and popular comedy anime of the past 20 years. (I’ll identify the most popular title below.) The “Kodocha” anime achieved massive success by infusing absurd, hyperactive, borderline surreal comedy with involving, complex characters and a developing story.

1999’s Excel Saga is a masterpiece of non-stop parody and surreal gags. Among American fans there are earnest supporters, critics who, I suspect, react more to the show’s popularity than the show itself, and viewers that simply don’t understand and appreciate all of the show’s references.

1999 also offered viewers the short Ippatsu Kikimusume anime series filled with outrageous, absurd and often embarrassingly sexual sight gags and comical situations.

In 2000, Gainax unleashed FLCL upon the world, giving viewers worldwide another cult favorite.

The Jungle wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu series that premiered in 2001 appeared quietly, but quickly turned into an international “must see” series among anime fans. Its setting is almost totally unique; its characters are like no others; and its comedy is genuinely surrealistic and uncontrollably funny.

The Azumanga Daioh TV series from 2002 is an exception on this list because it’s the only comedy that excels based entirely on witty writing and dynamic character interactions instead of absurd, outlandish situations. Azumanga Daioh is a drawing room comedy that’s just as uncontrollably funny as the best slapstick.

Similar to Excel Saga, 2003’s Cromartie High School is a divisive show. Fans who “get” the joke love it, and viewers that don’t are left confused and unimpressed.

So far this year, in my opinion the best comedy has been Animal Yokocho, a series sorely overlooked by most American anime fans because it’s overtly a show for little girls. Although it’s a series about a 6 year old girl and her three talking animal companions, Animal Yokocho is the most sadistic, surrealistic, and outrageously funny black comedy I’ve seen in ages.

As promised, now I’ll discuss a few exceptions. Crayon Shin-chan, which premiered in anime form in 1992, is overwhelmingly the most successful anime comedy debut of the past two decades. Its 500+ episodes and more than a dozen feature length theatrical movies dwarf even the long running Kodomo no Omocha, which had 102 episodes. But even at its best, Crayon Shin-chan is amusing but never inducing of uncontrollable fits of laughter. Similarly, the 2000 Di-Gi-Charat and 2001 Galaxy Angel anime franchises have risen to be among the most successful of all modern comedy anime in Japan, but while I dearly love both titles, I don’t think that either Di-Gi-Charat or Galaxy Angel are funny enough to compare with my top picks. 2004 produced the short Nin Nin ga Shinobuden and very short Pugyuru anime series. I think both are great, but 2×2=Shinobuden may be just too esoteric for its own good. Its parodies are so obscure that even hardcore otaku don’t get all of the jokes. Pugyuru is the embodiment of bizarre surrealism but its animation quality is so bad that I can’t help but count that against the show. Contrary to what I anticipate will be objection from the fan community, I can’t place the 2005 Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan OVA series at the pinnacle of my list because, although it is very funny, it still feels restrained and its jokes don’t feel fully developed. And finally, I can’t place the 2005 Majokko Tsukune-chan OVA series on my list of best comedies because I haven’t watched enough of it to make an informed judgement. The first episode was outrageously funny, which makes me say that Majokko Tsukune-chan deserves a spot on the list of best anime comedies if all six of its episodes are as funny as its first one.